Facebook and Apple Ping talks lasted 18 months

Facebook and Apple were in negotiations for 18 months about how to integrate the social network into Ping, Cupertino’s own musical networking service, unveiled earlier this month as a core feature of iTunes 10.

The revelation, from Silicon Alley Insider, suggests that it was initially hoped that Ping and Facebook would be more tightly integrated, following a similar model to that employed by music streaming colossus Spotify.

It comes not long after Facebook Connect was pulled from Ping, after the two companies couldn’t agree terms on how to implement the service, whi

Facebook connectivity would certainly make Ping more exciting and vital, although with a million users signing up within the first few days, Apple will doubtless believe it can get along fine without Zuckerberg and co.